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26 "My Feelings On Prejudice"
My friends.
My Feelings on Prejudice
I read a hub called “The Ugly Face of Prejudice”, by sdbeasley. This hub inspired me to share a couple of stories about two of my friends’ experiences while in their first year of serving in the Air Force where “prejudices” are supposed to not exist. When you are in the military you are there to serve your country and all prejudices are supposed to be left behind. You would think so, but it doesn’t work that way. Mind you, this was in the mid 1960’s.
I had been in the Air Force for about one year and my job was a baker stationed at England Air Force Base in Alexandria, LA. Both of my Staff Sergeant supervisors had just received their orders to report for their tour of duty in Viet Nam. I was left with the responsibility of keeping our troops fat and happy. Anyway, I was also given the responsibility of training new bakers of who were airmen fresh out of basic training.
The first was John Bush. He was from San Antonio, TX. His is the first story I will tell about where the “ugly head of prejudice” was raised. He had finished his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX. He was traveling from his home to England AFB in LA. When he arrived he told me about his experience. Nothing violent, just heartbreaking to me and should have never happened. This has stuck with me all these years and anytime someone mentions prejudice it stirs the memories, and unfortunately, that is all too often. I do need to point out that John Busch was African American and one of the nicest and most mild mannered people I have ever known. A very easy going person.
John was traveling in his Dress Blues. There was no mistaking the fact that he was in the service of our country. John stopped at a hamburger stand and ordered a hamburger, fries and malt.
John was told, “Your kind has to go to the back to be served.”
John asked, “Why, because I am in the military?”
He was told, “No, because of your color.”
He made me proud of his ability to keep his cool. He just turned and walked away. I don’t think I could have kept my cool if I had been with him. I have never been able to stand that kind of treatment to anyone. To think that he was in to protect their right to refuse him service. How ironic.
The other story is about another airman that I was to train. His name was Louis Daigle. He came from Vermont, or somewhere around there, I don’t remember for sure, but he had a very strong accent. He had never been around or involved with African Americans before he joined the Air Force. He was on base for a short while and had made some friends.
On Base was an auto shop where the guys could take their cars to work on them. Louise was with his friends sitting in the back seat of a convertible that had the top up but there was no back window. They had been talking to a couple of their buddies, right outside the auto shop roll-up doors that were rolled up at the time. They said their good byes and the car started to drive away. The guys by the shop called out and asked where they were going. Very rudely one of the jerks in the car yelled back, “We’re going down town and going n****r hunting.” With that, three African American soldiers that had been just inside the door working on a car, exploded out the door and caught the car. One jumped on the trunk of the car and grabbed Louis by the throat. Louis thought he was a dead man. All were reprimanded for their actions, the ones in the car for their prejudistic expression and the ones from the garage for their violent actions. It took all of them one year longer to get their next stripes.
There were innocents, like Louis in the car too, that were punished because of one person’s stupidity and ignorance. He was just joking, but that caused a lot of problems. That was probably because he was more than likely raised in a prejudice family and thought he was being cute and not thinking that someone would hear that would be a little sensitive to a comment like that.
Greg
Comments
Great HUB... People learn to be predjudice. Me I do not care about any of that. It is how you treat me as a person. This is still a topic that needs to be addressed. I hate when I see people just bashing another's race etc. I enjoyed reading this hub
Always
Mrs. J. B.
- Author
Hi Mrs. J.B., Thank you for he comment and joining my followers. This is a topic that that, if people would listen to their hearts, could actually stop a lot of pain and suffering in the world. Again, thank you. Greg
My children are half African American and I am full blooded English.. YET you have no clue what I have been called by people who what??? Came here 10,20,30,40,50 and more years ago???? My ex-husband's family was here even before my own was ( probably kicked out of England ) so... The comments... SIGH....
Fine dog picture i must commend. Well, the issue about race, prejudice and discrimination has lingered for a long time and people have refused to understand the fact the a human is a human irrespective of color, race etc. My pain is, individuals who discriminate can never do better than or are they in anyway better than those they discriminate against. Thanks for sharing.
You know this is heartbreaking and I am inclined to tell a little different type or a different twist of something like this that happened to me. It is hard sometimes even after all these years like walking on eggshells to not offend and it seems every time I put down Obama I have to remind people that I did indeed vote for him, and my very best friend as an adult is African American and we both love each other so much. I may give that story a stab. Great hub, I don't imagine prejudice will ever be gone. If I have any it is for us having to support illegals and have been decades without even knowing it and race has nothing to do with that fact. I will always see illegal as illegal and only trouble makers want to call that prejudice. Look at the fix we are in and no one ever brings up the billions we spend on illegal immigrants in this country not being screened bringing disease and costing us such an astronomical sum while our homeless and Veterans get ignored!
- Author
Hi Jackie, Thank you for the very expresive comment. And yes, the feelings we have about illegal aliens is not prejudice and has nothing to do with race, religion or color of skin. And it shouldd be one of the very BIG topics in congress about the problem with our economy. Again, thank you. Greg
Great Hub ! I voted this up and everything else except funny all the way across , have a blessed day all day !:)
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Hi Jami, Thank you for the encouragement, the visit and the time for the comment. Greg
It is alive where I live. And horrible where I work. I am not an office worker, but am in and out. And I hear the office people saying he/she(customer) stinks, when they are gone. I'm a broken record and no one seems to care when I say well, maybe they think we stink.
We need to be reminded of this stuff,though it's almost a day in/day out thing, but we are just not the ones coming across this stuff. Thanks for writing this hub.
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Hi Wet Nose, Thank you for the visit and comment. Yes, unfortunately the ugly head of prejudice still rises everywhere. I just don't understand why "people" can't understand that we are all the same, no matter where we come from. Greg
great hub
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Hi Crystal, Thank you for the follow, visit and comment. Greg
Like the holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankyl stated, "There are only two races of men - the decent and the indecent..."
In this life, I hope to always be counted among the decent, as opposed to be counted by my race.
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Hi Patriette, Thank you. That is the only anyone should be viewed. Race should never be a factor. Everyone is the same on the inside except for the heart, and that is waht the individual makes it. Greg
Just in the store yesterday I witnessed something that left me shaking my head. A white man with long dreads down to his waist walked in with a black woman. They were minding their business shopping and walked past two white men in their 20's. One of the white men mumbled something under his breath to the other as the couple passed them by clearly showing some type of irritation. The couple either ignored them or did not see/hear them. Perhaps if the young men weren't so judgmental, they'd be out with girls rather than themselves?
Yes, I remember a few incidents several decades ago. Although this ugliness is still strong, I have not had any serious personal encounters recently. I am Black.
I had a cousin--he is dead now--who was mixed, but looked White. He was with my father when a White woman flirted with him. He told her that he and my father were first cousins. The woman almost passed out while getting away. It is quite ok not to want to be with a person of another race, but to act as if another is poison is ill. Considering the time this happened several decades ago, I suppose that was not so bad.
Prejudice behavior is not limited to one race. All races have their share of it. This demon is not wiped out by education alone; it takes the deaths of many generations to see a significant improvement. I do not worry about it, but I sympathize with people who create their own health problems by being prejudice.
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Hi Levertis, You're right about it not just being one race. These days if a white man went into a different neighborhood, be it black, hispanic, asian etc. there is a good chance he would be in deep doodoo, so to speak. Greg
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